


from rivers, they flow

by mikochan_noda



Category: Bride of the Water God
Genre: Chapter 30/Volume 5 spoilers, F/M, Heartbreak, Manwha-verse, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 13:35:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11624622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikochan_noda/pseuds/mikochan_noda
Summary: it's better to drown in the seas, than to drift aimlessly.from fic challenge:the start of something new





	from rivers, they flow

_Will you marry me, Soah?_  
  
( _I'm not going to listen to you anymore?_  You screamed that to him, remember? That is very ironic, hypocrite. Now you are stymied to silence and cannot help but listen to every dripping coaxing he speaks through his eyes, like a dark expanse of the sea, of unknown depths and unpredictability.)  
  
A thin breath escapes from her lips, as she can feel the silky hold of this man, as she clutches the long forearm and that heat of his fingers linger upon her chin. They spread to her cheeks in a hungry flame, unable to build up her quickly breaking resolve. Clear astonished hazel gaze tries not to return his stare, he keeps her in place, the mortal heart in her chest painfully beating.   
  
(like your mind as the raging ocean, you topple and crash with his words as your anchor.)  
  
 _Will you be my bride?_  
  
A faint voice she calls herself whispers  _what is he saying?_  
  
She belongs to the Water God. And no matter how Mui said that his words as good as the temperamental celestial child, she belongs to the boy.   
  
(but you lie, lie. it seems you are already his.)  
  
And then his touch disappears.  
  
She can barely understand the whirlwind of news comes out of the young Ju-dong's mouth, her head is still in a daze from the sudden proposal. But through all the flurry and panicking actions, it snaps her back to reality when she realizes what the fire god was saying.  
  
A sacrifice. Another bride is offered again.  
  
( _why?_  you hear the stifled question, but you successfully suppress the ache caused by the cruelty of your world.)  
  
Mui refuses. Stubbornly does not want to save the poor woman who can be all alone in a sinking boat, waiting, waiting, waiting.   
  
 _It doesn't matter._  
  
( _you remember that rejection is much worse than death by drowning._ )  
  
Foolishness be damned, Soah cannot just let her die.  
  
( _Because he chose you, it's already enough._ )  
  
 _Save her, please._  
  
(you seep in the cracks of desperation, like it is your own life to die horribly.)  
  
 _Fine._  
  
He scowls, annoyance and petulant obedience as he retracts a few steps away from her and accuses.  
  
 _But don't regret it later._  
  
The air swirls in a light mist, as he turns his back and kneels to the large expanse of the sea at his feet.   
  
She had no time to regret, for a minute later, he emerges from the reflecting water--  
  
(carrying his heart, his past, the one barrier you cannot ever break)  
  
\--with that ethereal woman in his arms, shrouded by the waning moonlight.  
  


* * *

  
The assault from an infuriated Mura stings painfully.  
  
She nearly surrenders to the beckoning urge to fall into a heap of tears tracing. But she does not let them fall, not ever in front of the witch that backhands her.   
  
She deserves it. She was foolish.  
  
Delicate fingers linger upon the intricate designs of a certain silk cloth, threading through the rough patterns. There was something different in waiting for an enigma to emerge fully, but she still sits there, hoping against fading hope, that he will choose her.  
  
(But you already saw his eyes when that tall figure carries the fallen form of that phantom woman who haunts your life.)  
  


* * *

  
She wonders why she still stays behind a door that shall never welcome her back.  
  
There were swirls of a coming dawn, traces of mandarin and rose hues circle over the sky. They cascade softly in twirls, reminding her of phantasm-touches that she dreams of every night.  
  
But when dawn comes, she knows.   
  
She belongs to a boy.   
  
( _not a man, soah. not him._ )  
  
She tries to forget him and his false security and his lying embrace.  
  
( _you fear, like a shaking trust crumbling, that the god-boy was really him. condemning you to a truth: that_  you  _don't belong here._ )  
  
She meets his stare equally, with the strength of a trembling breath and gripping hands.  
  


* * *

  
"Does it hurt to be cast aside, now?" His majesty spoke in humor, toying with the ends of your straight locks. "Empress of the gods?"  
  
She does not respond because it is enough. Her now eternally youthful hands caresses the ripples beneath the cool boat as it struck her how similar it is from that day when she waited for her fate.  
  
"So what do you wish for, my Queen?" The King asks with his amusement apparent in his deity-like beauty.  
  
(on that hole-ridden vessel, there were only two things for you: to be claimed by the seas or to be claimed by  _him_ )  
  
"I wish" And a stray lily floats towards her outstretched grasp. "for the oceans."

**Author's Note:**

> was first posted in [livejournal](http://miko-is-writing.livejournal.com/2716.html) last **12/23/2008, 2308H**


End file.
